


End of the Road

by DizzyDrea



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Coda, F/M, Introspection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23385454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: It had been just days since the final, decisive battle for the future of the galaxy. Somehow, it felt a lot longer than that. Of course, it seemed like they'd been at this for a lot longer than it had actually been, so time was certainly relative. Still, he could hardly believe that the thing he'd dedicated his entire adult life to—well, so far, anyway—was over.
Relationships: Kaydel Ko Connix/Poe Dameron
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	End of the Road

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Rise of Skywalker. Took me a while to get around to writing it. This can be read as a sequel to [Grace & Glory](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916763) and [A Burned Out Star](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13707594), though it's not strictly necessary to have read those two stories to get this one.
> 
> Written for the Fluff Bingo 2019 Bonus Round over on the Just Write Discord. For the _Togetherness_ square on my bingo card.
> 
> Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its particulars belongs to George Lucas, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney, JJ Abrams, Bad Robot Productions and a lot of other people who aren't me. I'm doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

Poe Dameron stood at the edge of the flight line, the long line of X-Wings, Y-Wings and an assortment of transports and other ships glinting in the pale moonlight.

He couldn't say what had drawn him to that exact spot, but he'd stood there, arms crossed, for some time, just staring out at the stars, his mind curiously blank for all that remained to do after the battle with the Emperor's fleet.

It had been just days since the final, decisive battle for the future of the galaxy. Somehow, it felt a lot longer than that. Of course, it seemed like they'd been at this for a lot longer than it had actually been, so time was certainly relative. Still, he could hardly believe that the thing he'd dedicated his entire adult life to—well, so far, anyway—was over. And despite the fact that there was plenty to do to help the Republic reunite and recover from the darkest days of the First Order, he felt a little at loose ends.

"Here you are."

Poe glanced over his shoulder to find Kaydel Connix standing a little way away, hands parked on her hips, head tilted just so. He smiled briefly; Kay had always had the ability to find him, no matter where he was. He'd suspect she was using the Force if he didn't know she wasn't Force-sensitive. Although, given that Finn had turned out to be sensitive, maybe it wasn't as ridiculous as he'd thought.

"Here I am," Poe muttered as he returned to staring out at the stars. 

He felt rather than saw her step up beside him and run her hand down his arm. She easily threaded her fingers through his and leaned into him, just staring up at the same starscape he was seeing. When her head dropped onto his shoulder, he huffed a laugh.

"You comfortable?"

"Eh," she said, shrugging one shoulder. "It'll do. Nice view, though. Same one from last night. And the night before. And the night before that."

And just like that, he was busted.

He'd ducked out of the celebration to see Zorii Bliss off in her ship, and then he'd just… never gone back. 

"You're not the only one, you know," she said.

He glanced down at her, one eyebrow raised. "Not the only one what?"

"You're not the only one wondering what comes next," she said. "Some have only been at this for a little while, but they don't know whether they're supposed to just go back to the lives they had before or if they should stay. Help rebuild."

"And the rest of us have been at it so long that we don't know anything else," he said, finishing her thought. "Yeah."

"I think we all expected her to be here to tell us what's next," she said quietly. "I mean, we're supposed to be celebrating, but it feels… wrong somehow, to celebrate when she's gone."

Poe took a deep breath, the pain still as sharp as it had been the moment he'd found out that General Leia had passed. She'd recruited him, back in the day, told him that there was so much more he could be doing to preserve peace and stability in the galaxy. Poe hadn't really needed to be sold; the Republic's hands-off attitude toward the First Order had rubbed him so wrong there weren't really words for it.

But while she'd trained them to face the most imminent threat, they hadn't really trained for what came after. Of course, they'd all expected the New Republic would be there to bring everyone together once the First Order had been defeated. Now, they were facing a galaxy once again in need of rebuilding, and Poe had not a single clue where to start.

Truth was, he wasn't a politician. That was an issue for someone for whom 'shoot first, ask questions later' wasn't a personal mantra.

"She'd want us to celebrate," Poe said, heaving a sigh. "She wouldn't want us to mourn her. She wasn't that kind of person. She was all about the victory, about doing the best she could to bring peace to the galaxy."

"Seems like maybe you missed the party," Kay said.

He looked down to find her smirking at him. He turned and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, resting his chin on her head as she snuggled into him, looping her arms around his middle. Her deep, relieved sigh made him feel guilty for having practically ignored her the last few days.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Better, now," she said, the smile evident in her words.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Sorry I've been ignoring you. I guess I've just had a lot on my mind."

"It's okay," she said. "We all have."

"What do we do now?" he asked quietly.

"We go to bed," she said. "We get some sleep and then we get up tomorrow and do the next thing."

He chuckled. "That's it? 'Do the next thing'? What if we don't know what the next thing is?"

"Stop," she said. She pulled back and looked at him. "Just stop. Stop worrying. Stop thinking. Just stop."

"I don't know if I can do that, Kay," he said, shaking his head. "I'm a pilot. I've never been really good at just doing nothing."

"You know, we've been fighting this war for a long time," Kay said. "Some longer than others. It's okay if the next thing is nothing at all. Maybe what we really all need is a day off. Time to reconnect with each other and remember who we are, deep inside. The people we were before all this."

"And what if who I was before isn't someone you want to know?"

"Not all of us joined the Resistance from the womb, you know," she said. "Besides, you think I don't know who you used to be? There isn't a thing you did that she didn't know about. And what she knew about, I knew about. You're not as mysterious as you think you are."

"And it doesn't bother you?" he asked. "Who I used to be?"

"Who you used to be made you into the man you are today," she said. "And that's the man I love. So no, it doesn't bother me. We're all the sum of our experiences. She knew that better than anyone."

"Yeah, she did," he said. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, a gentle, sweet kiss full of promise. When he pulled back, she was smiling at him, brighter than the sun over Ajan Kloss. "Thanks."

"For what?" she asked.

"For being you," he said, smiling down at her. "For being so easy to love. For loving me. Just, thanks."

"You are welcome," she said, her smile growing even brighter, if that were possible.

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all," Poe said. "Now that the war is over, I can spend more time with you."

"You sure can," she said brightly. "We have lots to do. We need to organize the new fleet and recruit some more troops. Oh, and someone's got to start assembling a new Senate. Leaving a power vacuum isn't a good idea. And then—"

He lay a finger over her lips, cutting off the flow of words. "It can wait. Just for tonight, I want to enjoy the stars with my girl. You game?"

"I like the way you think," she said as she snuggled closer. "And then maybe we can relocate to your quarters."

"Something on your mind?" 

"I'm too tired for that," she said, pinching his side.

He laughed. "Me too. But I would very much like to wake up next to you in the morning."

"I think that can be arranged," she said.

"And maybe the morning after that," he said. "And the morning after that."

Kay leaned back. "Something on your mind?"

"Just thinking about the future," Poe said, smiling. He pecked her on her lips. "Something I haven't been able to do for a very long time."

"Well, whatever the future holds, we'll face it together," she said. 

"Together," he said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I like the sound of that."

"Me too," she said with a smile. "Me too."

~Finis


End file.
